During the month of August, Leah and I had set out to limit our added sugar to 25 grams or less per day. The reason why is that the American Heart Association recommends that the average woman should not consume more than 25 grams of added sugar, and men should not consume more than 36 grams of added sugar.
Added sugar means the sugar that is added to something so that it tastes better and you want to eat more. And it shows up in the sneakiest of places. It is in pasta sauce, condiments, yogurt, the list goes on and on. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, if there are 4 grams of sugar in a teaspoon, and the average person is consuming 17 teaspoons a day, that means we are consuming 68 grams of added sugar per day. That number is staggering but so easy to get to. If you start with cereal or something sweet in the morning, a soda and sandwich for lunch, maybe some cookies or candy in the afternoon, then pasta for dinner and something for dessert, it adds up very quickly.
So the point of our challenge was not to shame ourselves but to investigate if we could reduce our added sugar consumption. Another side note, we both want to reduce the sugar we consume. But it is challenging in different ways. Sugar is a big trigger for inflammation, insulin resistance and gut imbalance. It can also cause anxiety, depression because the sugar usually accompanies other artificial ingredients.
We started the month in earnest. We were counting our added sugar and honestly we were doing pretty well. I had made a date roll, homemade granola, and had bought some dried fruit, and other things to help set me up for success. I personally think having options available makes it easier to sidestep a behavior. I have been gradually reducing the sugar I consume for many years. So certain things definitely tasted sweeter. But it is so interesting to add up the sugar on things like bread, or peanut butter.
On the first day, my number was 20 g. Mostly it was incremental bits that added up, 4 g from my gf bread, 3 for the black beans, 2 in the grain free tortilla. The next week or so I was hovering around 15 some days even lower. I had been consuming fruits, sweeter vegetables, it was going well. Then the second week something happened. I lost interest. I am not sure why, I just stopped adding it up.
It wasn't that I didn't care, it wasn't that I forgot that I was doing a challenge. I think that it was that I was getting cocky. I figured that I was doing so well that I didn't need to pay attention. The second piece of this, which I think is even more important is that it is easier to add something than take something away. So in June when we were trying to concentrate on protein and fiber, it was easier and more interesting. We were both finding was to add the protein and fiber because we saw a direct impact on how we felt. We felt full, we felt more energetic, our stomachs were happier. With the limiting of the added sugar, we were just trying to find ways to sidestep. This was not as fun of a process. I think overall I didn't consume excess amounts of sugar, I was still mindful. I just didn't track it.
I think the overall lesson which reaches beyond the sugar challenge is that when we are trying to change habits, we have to find productive ways to add things so the "negative" behaviors just fade away. For example, if you are trying to cut back on diet soda, adding in water and see how much you can get in the day is a great way to crowd out the diet soda.
I also think I need to go back to monitoring my protein and fiber because I definitely felt better and didn't have as much craving for sugar. So lessons learned and on to the next challenge, what should it be?
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